Richard Harrington's Blog

Shooting video is a lot easier and accessible than it used to be. Newer versions of PowerPoint are very compatible with most industry standard files, such as H.264, which is commonly used on most point and shoot and phone based devices. One of the cool things you can do in PowerPoint is also incorporate video pretty easily into your slide deck presentation. Video sometimes adds a nice unexpected element that your audience might not be anticipating. I will walk through how to add a video into your presentation in this course.

Photos, Video, Charts and Shapes: Adding a Video

To learn more, I’ve created an exciting course called PowerPoint: From Outline to Presentation, for Lynda.com

Creating an effective visual presentation should lend itself to a strong speaker support. This comes from having compelling visuals and effective slide decks that communicate content to an audience. Occasionally presenters forget about this because they are too wrapped up in the overall presentation. In this course, I’ll share my workflow for building an effective PowerPoint presentation, starting with a strong outline. Learn to create the outline, get input from collaborators, and then transition that outline to an initial slide deck. Once you're in PowerPoint, I will show you how to format your slides, add tables, graphics, movies, and animation (like transitions and reveals) and prepare and rehearse your presentation for your final audience. Having an organized workflow starts with a cohesive outline. It’s all about making your presentation come to life. In doing this, you’ll give a valuable presentation that the audience won’t forget.

It can be a little tricky opening the GoPro cases. Featured in this course are the GoPro3 and the GoPro3+. I will demonstrate how to properly open each of these cases. If you have one with you, feel free to follow along and open the cases as I open each of them.

Getting to know the Camera: Removing the Camera from its Case

Got a GoPro? Nowadays most people either own one or have shot with one before. This course covers all of the essential skills to get you up and running to shoot with the GoPro cameras. Since we are focusing on the fundamentals, you will learn all of the steps from properly opening the GoPro box to getting it set up to cater to your shooting situation and learning all of the various mounting techniques. Whether you capture stills, video, or even time-lapse photography, you will learn an array of techniques with the GoPro Hero from me in this course. Let’s jump right in as I also share my insights on the different menus and settings so you can get shooting quickly, without fussing over controls. Follow-up courses in this series will examine different creative uses for the GoPro.

On this week's DSLR Video Tips we'll explore mirrorless cameras. Have you ever worked with a mirrorless camera? When mirrorless cameras take the image it doesn't hit a mirror and bounce off like DSLR cameras. There are pros and cons to using these types of cameras. Join Robbie and I as we jump into the studio to do a live recording with musician, Jason Masi demoing three different mirrorless cameras. Check out the various shots, picture quality and perspective of these cameras. Discover the ability to completely be adaptable and flexible with all sorts of lenses from Nikon, to PL, to FD mount lenses.

To learn more, I’ve created an exciting course with Robbie Carman called, What is a Mirrorless Camera: DSLR Video Tips, for Lynda.com http://www.lynda.com/Final-Cut-Pro-tutorials/DSLR-Video-Tips/103707-2.html

Have you ever wondered exactly which settings to choose to get the best video out of your DSLR or mirror less camera? In this video, I walk you through step by step and show you on cameras from Canon, Nikon, and Panasonic. You’ll learn how to get the videos in the right format for editing so tools like Photoshop can work with the files.

Whether your smartphone is your behind the scenes, some of the time, or primary camera… it’s important you make the most of it. While the sensors in many smartphones often rival point-and-shoot cameras, I frequently see people underutilize their capabilities.

For example, here’s a single image taken on the iPhone 5s. You’ll note that the image lacks sufficient contrast.

An untouched iPhone 5s photo

This particular scene is difficult to shoot due to the wide dynamic range of the subject. Many phones include an in-camera HDR mode. While this mode is frequently better, it often produces results that are negligibly better.

An in-camera iPhone 5s HDR photo

This is where an in-camera upgrade comes in. Buy an app! There are many HDR apps. My absolute favorite is Pro HDR which is available for both Android and iPhone. It takes two photos with a much wider exposure range, then fuses them together.

A HDR created with PRO HDR uses a wider dynamic range

Taking the photo takes much longer than the in-camera HDR mode. As such, you’ll need to hold the camera fairly still. I recommend tucking your elbows into your sides or even bracing the camera against a flat surface. The results it produces however are superior.

You’ll note that not only are colors richer, but textures and details are much better preserved.

For shooting landscapes, interiors, or high contrast scenes, I can’t recommend the app enough. It also works well for portraits in tough lighting if you can get your subject to hold still for two seconds.

Memory cards come in all sizes. With respect to GoPros, the cards are tiny, fragile and can be easy to lose. They had to go to the smallest form factor available simply because the GoPros are so small. These cards are the micro SD card format. In this course, I'll demonstrate how to securely insert and eject the GoPro memory cards and show what time of memory cases are good for storing these small cards.

Got a GoPro? Nowadays most people either own one or have shot with one before. This course covers all of the essential skills to get you up and running to shoot with the GoPro cameras. Since we are focusing on the fundamentals, you will learn all of the steps from properly opening the GoPro box to getting it set up to cater to your shooting situation and learning all of the various mounting techniques. Whether you capture stills, video, or even time-lapse photography, you will learn an array of techniques with the GoPro Hero from me in this course. Let’s jump right in as I also share my insights on the different menus and settings so you can get shooting quickly, without fussing over controls. Follow-up courses in this series will examine different creative uses for the GoPro.

When it comes to properly exposing the shot, you need to understand exposure. In this video, I shoot in manual mode and show you how to get a properly exposed video shot. This knowledge also translates seamlessly into photo shooting as well.

The GoPro can shoot video and stills at the same time. And you can set you camera at intervals to shoot video and stills simultaneously. What you don’t want is the camera in interlaced mode. You want to make sure you’re shooting at 1080 or 720 which is truly progressive whole frames. Join me as I walk through how to make sure you have the proper recording mode set in your GoPro to achieve just this. You’ll want to look at the Video + Photo mode and set you intervals under Capture Settings.

Got a GoPro? Nowadays most people either own one or have shot with one before. This course covers all of the essential skills to get you up and running to shoot with the GoPro cameras. Since we are focusing on the fundamentals, you will learn all of the steps from properly opening the GoPro box to getting it set up to cater to your shooting situation and learning all of the various mounting techniques. Whether you capture stills, video, or even time-lapse photography, you will learn an array of techniques with the GoPro Hero from me in this course. Let’s jump right in as I also share my insights on the different menus and settings so you can get shooting quickly, without fussing over controls. Follow-up courses in this series will examine different creative uses for the GoPro.